Cardinals CEO, GM release statements on federal investigation

The CEO and general manager for the St. Louis Cardinals released a statement on Wednesday, June 17 on the federal investigation for computer hacking.

Both said they've been aware of the probe for several months and have hired a firm to complete its own internal review.

CEO William DeWitt, Jr. also said:

"We are committed to getting to the bottom of this matter as soon as possible, and if anyone within our organization is determined to be involved in anything inappropriate, they will be held accountable."

Still no word on who within the organization is being investigated.

Front-office officials for the St. Louis Cardinals are under investigation by the FBI, according to an article published on Tuesday by the The New York Times.

In the article, they say investigators have evidence that the Cardinals officials broke into a network of the Houston Astros that "housed special databases the team had built," according to law enforcement officials.

The Times said officials did not say which employees were the focus of the investigation.

They say, "Law enforcement officials believe the hacking was executed by vengeful front-office employees for the Cardinals hoping to wreak havoc on the work of Jeff Luhnow."

Luhnow worked as an executive for the Cardinals until 2011 and is now the general manager of the Astros.

He helped create a computer database to better keep track of Cardinals' top prospects and took a similar approach as general manager of the Astros.

He is credited with growing the Cardinals' farm system to one of the best in baseball and bringing on players that led to the 2011 World Series win.

The report alleges that Luhnow used the same password and that's how the Cardinals execs allegedly got the information.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said it's too early to assign blame.

"To assume that that investigation is going to come to a specific result with respect to the Cardinals, let alone to jump to use of a word like 'cyber attack,' I just think that we don't know that those are the facts yet," he said.

He said cyber security comes down to each organization.

"We have a technology company that quite literally is the envy of companies throughout America, not just sports enterprises," Manfred said. "At the end of the day, however, each club it's an individual local undertaking as to what the security measures are."

The St. Louis Cardinals released the following statement on Tuesday regarding the investigation into last year's security breach involving the Houston Astros:

"The St. Louis Cardinals are aware of the investigation into the security breach of the Houston Astros' database. The team has fully cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so. Given that this is an ongoing federal investigation, it is not appropriate for us to comment further."

Major League Baseball also released a statement on Tuesday:

“Major League Baseball has been aware of and has fully cooperated with the federal investigation into the illegal breach of the Astros' baseball operations database. Once the investigative process has been completed by federal law enforcement officials, we will evaluate the next steps and will make decisions promptly.”

We talked to Cardinal fans in Cape Girardeau on Tuesday. Here's what a couple of them had to say about the allegations against their team.

"I mean it puts a damper on an organization that's been the best for years," Justin Koch said. "In my personal opinion, you can't blame the players for this."

"It doesn't sit well though," Dylan Essener said. "You don't want to see that happen to your team, especially in the season they're having right now, you know, best record in baseball."

Mike Matheny, Cardinals manager, talked about the allegations at a press conference on Tuesday.

"You know where we are right now is we don't know more than anybody else, and just kind of waiting to hear," Matheny said. "We heard from the front office that this is something that is going to be addressed soon and then we'll be up to speed, but right now we go about our business and realize it's something to be dealt with."

Players from the United States pose for the camera before the semifinal round of the women's hockey game against Finland at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 19, 2018. (Matt Slocum/Pool Photo via AP)

Team USA won the first meeting between the neighboring nations at the 1998 Winter Olympics. The Canucks have won every other meeting.

Team USA won the first meeting between the neighboring nations at the 1998 Winter Olympics. The Canucks have won every other meeting.